Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald sided with his university against the formation of a players union in his first public comments Saturday, repeating what he already told his team: ''I believe it's in their best interests to vote no.'' Fitzgerald addressed the issue for the first time with his squad Wednesday, a week after Peter Ohr, regional director for the National Labor Relations Board, ruled that Northwestern's scholarship football players were ''employees.'' That decision entitled players to conduct a secret-ballot vote on forming a union to pursue collective bargaining with the school, a move that could significantly alter the structure of college sports - especially big revenue-producers like football and basketball. It's about trust,'' Fitzgerald said about issues - including improved medical care, practice schedules and others - raised by the College Athletes Players Association, the group seeking to unionize players. So far, CAPA has not addressed paying players on scholarship. More...